A bear mauled and severely injured a woman who was walking her two dogs in a rural area in Southern California on Tuesday.

The victim managed to escape and drive herself three miles to a nearby fire station, authorities said.

County fire spokesman Sean Collins said the woman suffered severe lacerations to her face and head and was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

“For her to be attacked in that manner and drive to a fire station, she must have been running on pure adrenaline,” Collins said, according to the Associated Press.

The woman, whose identity was not yet revealed, was walking her two dogs near the small community of Caliente, east of Bakersfield, when the bear violently attacked.

Her dogs both escaped as well, but one of them was also injured.

Wildlife trackers and game wardens searched the area for the bear but they had not found it by Tuesday night said Harry Morse, spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game.

Morse explained the wildfires burning across the state led to the displacement of wild animals, but was not sure whether this was one of the causes of the attack Tuesday.

Fish and Game officials said they would interview the woman, when she is in a better condition, to find out exactly the circumstances of the attack.